Golf club carrier



Nov. 1, 1949 H. W. DUNCAN GOLF CLUB CARRIER Filed Aug.v 25, 1946 INVENTOR HAQOLD W. DUNCAN ATTORNEYS Patented Nov. 1, 1949 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE GOLF CLUB CARRIER Harold W. Duncan, Akron, Ohio Application August 23, 1946, Serial No. 692,620

This invention relates to golf club carriers, and more especially it relates to substitutes for the conventional bags commonly employed for conveying a complement of golf clubs along a playing course.

This application is a continuation in part of my co-pending application for Letters Patent Serial No. 544,732, filed July 13, 1944, now abandoned.

It is common practice for golf players to employ caddies to carry their golf bags with golf clubs, but frequently it is difficult and often impossible to obtain such assistance. Thus, the players are required to carry their own club bags, which is a laborious task, especiallywhen the players are women, since the bags alone are of substantial weight. Furthermore, the expense of employing a caddy, when available, is 1ike1y to be considerable if extensive play is indulged in.

In my copending application aforementioned, I disclosed a golf club carrier comprising a rigid handle bar, and a pair of laterally spaced apart nooses suspended from the handle bar, which nooses were adapted to receive a plurality of golf clubs therein, and to tighten about the club shafts by reason of the weight of the clubs. The nooses comprised straps of relatively stiff flexible material, such as harness leather, so that they would open substantially to the fullest extent when no weight was suspended therein, thus facilitating the inserting and removal of the clubs. The carrier functioned in the manner desired while new, but after extended use and exposure to the elements the noose straps lost their inherent stiffness and became limp, with the result that the nooses no longer opened automatically when the weight therein was reduced, and the inserting and removal of the golf clubs could not be expeditiously effected. It is to the relief of this condition that this invention primarily is directed.

The chief objects of the invention are to provide an improved golf club carrier of the character mentioned; to provide a golf club carrier that is an acceptable substitute for the conventional golf club bag; to provide a golf club carrier that is light in weight; that is not as clumsy as a golf bag; that is compact, and enables clubs to be balanced therein for convenient carrying; that obviates the necessity of employing a caddy; that supports the clubs in such ,a manner that the carrying thereof will not be burdensome; that may be manufactured at relatively low cost; and which is so constructed that both noose- 1 Claim. (Cl. 1501.5)

t the free end portion thereof.

loops readily may be loosened and opened, when desired, to facilitate the inserting and/ or removal of golf clubs. Other objects will be manifest as the description proceeds.

Of the accompanying drawing:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the improved golf club carrier, and a complement of golf clubs carried therein;

Fig. 2 is an end elevation of the carrier shown in Fig. 1, as viewed from the left thereof, the clubs being shown in section; and

Fig. 3 is a perspective view of the golf club carrier, and a complement of golf clubs therein, showing how the carrier is manipulated to cause it to release its hold on the clubs.

Referring to the drawing, there is shown a bar or handle ID that is composed of wood or other light weight material. This bar need not be more than twelve inches long, and may be as short as nine inches if desired. Suspended from opposite ends of the bar In are respective straps II, II, said straps being parallel to each other and looped around the bar as shown, and secured thereto by respective headed nails [2. The straps preferably are composed of leather, although they may be composed of other flexible material such as rubber, plastic, or fabric, or a combination thereof.

The free end of each strap I I has a rectangular eye or loop l4 secured thereto, which loop may be composed of metal, plastic, or other suitable material. The intermediate portion of the strap extends slidingly through the loop [4, with the result that each strap comprises a noose l5 at The eye or loop I4 is secured to the strap by passing the end portion of the strap through the loop and folding it back about one of the side portions of the loop, and securing the folded back portion in place by means of a rivet [6.

A salient feature of the invention is a rod or bar l8 by means of which the nooses 15 of the carrier concurrently may be loosened or opened to facilitate the inserting and/or removal of golf clubs. Said bar I8 is of light weight metal such as aluminum, and is connected to the nooses l5 adjacent the ends thereof that include the loops [4, the end portions of the rod being disposed between the folds of the respective end portions of the straps and traversed by the rivets I6 that secure the folded back portions of the straps. Preferably the bar I8 is a tube, the end portion thereof being flattened.

In operation, a plurality of golf clubs 20 are placed within the nooses I5, the heads of the clubs being near one noose. Mounting of the clubs as described, and also removal of the clubs readily is effected simply by grasping the rod 18 by the fingers of the same hand that grasps the handle 10, and lifting said rod, that is, drawing it toward said handle. This opens the nooses l5 to the fullest extent so that they no longer bind the club shafts, thereby enabling clubs readily to be passed longitudinally into and out of the nooses. When the rod ;I8 is released, the weight of the clubs causes'the nooses to tighten about the clubs and prevents them from rattling against each other and from slipping out of the carrier.

The carrier may be designed to carryanynumber of golf clubs, although it is contemplated-that usually six or seven clubs will becarried since this constitutes the numberof tombs-considered essential. The straps II are of such length that when the nooses l5 encircle a full complement of clubs, there still will be sufficient space between the clubs and the handle bar "I0 to enable the vplayers arm to be passed therethrough and the carrier rested upon the shoulder ,if desired.

When so positioned the carriermay be tilted 150 The carrier and clubs therein :constitute a compact package, the weight 10f which readily may be balanced to facilitate hand =car- :rying when desired. In-addition to its :functions and advantages ,aforementionedlthe rod 1'8 serves to coordinate the action of the two "nooses ii,

that is it causes them to operate in unison and maintains them in parallelism at all times; this results in greater emciency of operation aespecially when it is desired to insert clubs into the carrier.

Modification may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention, or the scope thereof as defined by the appended claim.

What is claimed is:

A golf club carrier comprising a rigid handle bar, a pair of flexible straps permanently and fixedly secured to said bar at spaced apart regions thereof and suspended in parallelism therefrom, an endless loop permanently mounted on each strap at the free end thereof, the intermediate region of the strap extending loosely through said loop to provide a free running noose in which golf club shafts are receivable, and a rod of rigid material connected at its opposite ends to ,the respective Lstraps of the nooses at the free ends thereof adjacent said loops.

HAROLD W. DUNCAN.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date 349,899 Perkins .Sept..28, 1886 571,675 Mallon Nov. :17, .1896

1,563,816 Worthington Dec. 1, 192.5 2,336,422 .Ratcliif. Dec. 7, 1943 2,415,314 Todd Feb/1,1947

FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 64,728 Germany 1 890 

